Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers has launched a new campaign targeting ongoing extortion attempts in the region.
The agency has begun running radio ads on Punjabi-language radio stations in the Lower Mainland.
The ads urge anyone with information about ongoing extortion attempts to come forward and report it anonymously.
It comes amid police concerns that community members have critical information, but are staying silent out of fear of retribution.
“They should not hesitate, they should use Crime Stoppers to report anonymously,” said Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers executive director and Surrey City Councillor Linda Annis.
“It doesn’t matter if the person is arrested … they’ll never know who it was who called. Even if they go to court it still won’t be identified who has provided that information.”
The campaign comes after months of reported threats and extortion attempts across the Lower Mainland, which appear particularly focused on the South Asian business community.
Police arrested two men in B.C. in December over alleged threats to business owners, but prosecutors have yet to approve charges.
Last week, the RCMP’s National Coordination and Support Team (NCST) formed to support police dealing with extortion threats across the country, told Global News police in B.C. were investigating about 30 extortion files.
Frustration about what some in the community see as a lack of progress has boiled over in recent public forums over the extortion threats.